1. Introductory Provisions

1.1 Short Title

This Management Plan may be cited as the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Management Plan 2002 - 2008.

1.2 Commencement and Termination

This Plan has been prepared and will come into operation under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.When approved by the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage the Plan will be notified in the Commonwealth
Gazette and will take effect from either a date specified by the Minister and
included in the Gazette notice or the date of notification in the Gazette. The
Plan must also be laid before both Houses of the Parliament within 15 sitting
days after approval by the Minister and is then subject to disallowance by either
House on a Notice of Motion given within a further 15 sitting days.

The Plan will cease to have effect seven years after commencement, unless it
has already been amended or replaced by a new Plan made under the Act.

1.3 Interpretation

In this Management Plan:

Act or EPBC Act means the Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and includes the Regulations and
any Act amending, repealing or replacing the Act.

Australian National Botanic Gardens means the area declared under
section 7 of the Parks Act to be the botanic garden of that name, and continued
as a Commonwealth reserve under the EPBC Act by the Environmental Reform
(Consequential Provisions) Act 1999.

Biodiversity Convention means the Convention on Biological Diversity
done at Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992.

CPBR means the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research and Australian
National Herbarium, which is an unincorporated joint venture between the CSIRO
and the Director of National Parks. The CPBR was established by agreement on
22 November 1993 and extended on 14 April 2000 for ten years.

CSIRO means the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation established by the Science and Industry Research Act 1949.

Director means the Director of National Parks under theEPBC
Act.

Environment Australia means the Commonwealth Department of Environment
and Heritage.

Regulations or EPBC Regulations means the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 made under the
EPBC Act and includes any Regulations amending, repealing or replacing the Regulations.

1.4 Administrative and Legislative Context

The Australian National Botanic Gardens is a Commonwealth reserve under the
EPBC Act. Administration, management and control of Commonwealth reserves is
the function of the Director of National Parks. The Director of National Parks,
assisted by Parks Australia, part of Environment Australia, is responsible for
the management of the Gardens and for administering the relevant parts of the
EPBC Act and Regulations.

The EPBC Act (s.367) requires the Director to prepare management plans for
Commonwealth reserves. When prepared the plans are given to the Minister for
the Environment and Heritage for approval. A management plan is a disallowable
instrument, and when approved must be tabled in each House of the Commonwealth
Parliament. A plan may be disallowed by either House of the Parliament.

A management plan for a Commonwealth reserve has effect for seven years, subject
to its being revoked or amended earlier by another management plan for the reserve.

The EPBC Act (s.362) requires the Director to exercise the Directors
powers and perform the Directors functions to give effect to the management
plan for a Commonwealth reserve, and the Commonwealth and other Commonwealth
agencies must not perform functions or exercise powers inconsistently with the
management plan.

Under the EPBC Act (s.367) a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve must
provide for the protection and conservation of the reserve and must assign the
reserve to one of the following IUCN categories:

strict nature reserve;

wilderness area;

national park;

natural monument;

habitat / species management area;

protected landscape / seascape; and

managed resource protected area.

The provisions of a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve must not be
inconsistent with the Australian IUCN reserve management principles for the
IUCN category to which the reserve is assigned by the plan. The management principles
are prescribed by the EPBC Regulations. The Gardens is assigned by this Plan
to IUCN Category IV (habitat/species management area). The management principles
for this category are at Appendix 2.

In preparing a management plan the EPBC Act also requires (s.368) that account
must be taken of various matters. So far as relevant to the Gardens, these matters
include:

the regulation of the use of the reserve for the purposes for which it was
declared (deemed by the ER(CP) Act in the case of the Gardens to be: the increase
of knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of Australias plant heritage
by establishing, as an integrated resource, a collection of living and herbarium
specimens of Australian and related plants for study, interpretation, conservation
and display);

the encouragement and regulation of the appropriate use, appreciation and
enjoyment of the reserve; the protection, conservation and management of biodiversity
and heritage within the reserve;

the protection of the reserve against damage; and

Australias obligations under agreements between Australia and one
or more other countries relevant to the protection and conservation of biodiversity
and heritage.

The EPBC Act (s.354(1)) prohibits certain acts from being done in a Commonwealth
reserve except in accordance with a management plan. The acts are:

kill, injure, take, keep or move a member of a native species; or

damage heritage; or

carry on an excavation; or

erect a building or other structure; or

carry out works; or

take an action for commercial purposes.

These controls and restrictions do not affect certain traditional activities
by Indigenous people (s.359A). It is also noted that provisions of the EPBC
Act does not affect the operation of s.211 of the Native Title Act 1993
which provides that holders of native title rights covering certain activities
do not need authorisation required by other laws to engage in those activities
(s.8 EPBC Act).

Mining operations are also prohibited unless the Governor-General has approved
them and they are carried on in accordance with a management plan (s.355).

The EPBC Regulations regulate a range of activities in Commonwealth reserves,
such as use of vehicles, littering, commercial activities and research. The
Regulations are applied by the Director of National Parks, subject to and in
accordance with the EPBC Act and management plans. The Regulations do not apply
to the Director of National Parks or to wardens or rangers appointed under the
EPBC Act. Activities that are prohibited or restricted by the EPBC Act may be
carried out if they are authorised by a permit issued by the Director and/or
they are carried out in accordance with a management plan.

The taking of an action in a Commonwealth reserve that will have a significant
impact on the environment, or the taking of an action outside a Commonwealth
reserve that will have a significant impact on the environment in a Commonwealth
reserve, will be subject to the assessment and approvals provisions of the EPBC
Act.

Actions that would be, or are likely to have, a significant impact on a specified
matter of national environmental significance will also be subject
to the assessment and approval provisions of the EPBC Act. The matters of national
environmental significance identified in the Act as triggers for the EPBC Act
assessment and approval regime include:

listed threatened species and communities;

listed migratory species;

such further actions as are prescribed by the EPBC Regulations under the
Act.

Responsibility for compliance with the assessment and approvals provision of
the Act lies with persons taking relevant controlled actions. A
person proposing to take an action that is, or the person thinks may be a controlled
action must refer the proposal to the Minister for the Environmental and Heritage
for the Ministers decision whether or not the action is a controlled action.
Civil and criminal penalties may be imposed for breaches of the Act.

The EPBC Act also contains provisions that prohibit and regulate actions in
relation to threatened species and migratory species.

The Gardens is required to operate under statutory obligations and works in
cooperation with various government bodies.

The developed part of the Gardens is listed on the Register of the National
Estate and the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975, requires that
the Australian Heritage Commission be consulted on any action which may adversely
effect the heritage values of the Gardens. A Memorandum of Understanding has
been developed between the Gardens and the Commission to facilitate consultative
processes.

The Gardens is designated national land under the Australian Capital Territory
(Planning and Land Management) Act 1988 and developments require approval
from the National Capital Authority.

Gardens staff work cooperatively with the Heritage Council of the ACT and with
the Natural Resources Management Ministerial Council, particularly through the
Endangered Flora Network.

1.5 Purpose and Content of a Management Plan

The purpose of this Plan is to describe the philosophy and direction of management
for the Gardens for the next seven years. The Plan enables management to proceed
in an orderly way, helps to reconcile competing interests, and identifies priorities
for the allocation of available resources. The legal and policy conditions relevant
to the Plan include the:

Under s.367(1) of the EPBC Act, a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve
must provide for the protection and conservation of the reserve. In particular,
the plan must:

assign the reserve to an IUCN category (whether or not a Proclamation has
assigned the reserve or a zone of the reserve to that IUCN category); and

state how the reserve, or each zone of the reserve, is to be managed; and

state how the natural features of the reserve, or of each zone of the reserve,
are to be protected and conserved; and

if the Director holds land or seabed included in the reserve under lease
 be consistent with the Directors obligations under the lease;
and

specify any limitation or prohibition on the exercise of a power, or performance
of a function, under the EPBC Act in or in relation to the reserve; and

specify any mining operation, major excavation or other works that maybe
carried on in the reserve, and the conditions under which it may be carried
on; and

specify an operation or activity that may be carried on in the reserve;
and

indicate generally the activities that are to be prohibited or regulated
in the reserve, and the means of prohibiting or regulating them; and

indicate how the plan takes account of Australias obligations under
each agreement with one or more other countries that is relevant to the reserve
(including the World Heritage Convention and the Ramsar Convention, if appropriate).

The provisions of a management plan must not be inconsistent with the Australian
IUCN reserve management principles for the IUCN category to which the reserve
or a zone of the reserve is assigned (s367(3)).

1.6 IUCN World Conservation Union Category

As outlined in section 1.4, under the EPBC Act, a Commonwealth reserve, and
any zones within a reserve, must be assigned to an IUCN protected area management
category. This plan assigns the Gardens to IUCN category IV, habitat/species
management area.

The EPBC Act (section 347) prescribes characteristics for the IUCN categories.
So far as relevant to this plan they are: habitat/species management area
 the reserve or zone contains habitat for one or more species.

The EPBC Act (section 348) requires the EPBC Regulations to prescribe principles
for each IUCN category (Australian IUCN reserve management principles).
Appendix 2 of this Plan sets out the Management Principles for IUCN protected
area management category IV, as prescribed in Schedule 8 to the EPBC Regulations.
These principles identify the purposes for which the Commonwealth reserve, or
zone, assigned to the category are primarily to be managed. Of particular relevance
to the Gardens is the final principle, which provides that if a reserve or zone
is declared for the purpose of a botanic garden, it should be managed for the
increase of knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of Australias plant
heritage by establishing, as an integrated resource, a collection of living
and herbarium specimens of Australian and related plants for study, interpretation,
conservation and display.

1.7 Booderee Botanic Gardens

The original proclamation of the Gardens included an area located in the Jervis
Bay Territory within the boundaries of Jervis Bay National Park, which was established
under the Parks Act.

In October 1995, both the Park and the Gardens annexe were declared as Aboriginal
land under the Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986,
and title to the land was granted to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council.
The Land Grant Act required the Council to lease the land to the Director, so
that the land would continue to be managed as a national park and a botanic
garden. Although the annexe was still legally part of the Australian National
Botanic Gardens, for practical reasons its management was transferred at this
time to the Jervis Bay National Park.

In 1997, the names of the Park and the annexe were changed to Booderee National
Park and Booderee Botanic Gardens, at the request of the traditional owners.

In 1997, an agreement for the continuation of scientific and technical links
between the Booderee and Australian National Botanic Gardens was formalised.
This agreement detailed the areas of interest under the new cooperative arrangements.

The proclamation for the Australian National Botanic Gardens was amended in
early 2000 to remove Booderee Botanic Gardens. The Booderee Botanic Gardens
is now legally part of Booderee National Park, but is still managed as a botanic
garden. However, a close working relationship between the staff of the Australian
National Botanic Gardens and Booderee Botanic Gardens remains.